Charles Seashore, SCORE Counselor, has been named the Minnesota Minority Small Business Champion of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

The Minority Business Champion is selected annually to honor individuals who have fulfilled a commitment to support minority entrepreneurship.

Chuck Seashore is currently a member of Minneapolis SCORE Chapter #2. Prior to joining SCORE, he spent 40 years with Honeywell, Inc. and Alliant Techsystems. He served in a number of research, engineering and program management positions within the corporation.

Since joining SCORE in 1999, Seashore has served as Vice Chair, Chapter Chair and organized the chapter’s 40th anniversary celebration as the oldest SCORE Chapter in the country. SCORE was started in Minneapolis by a group of corporate executives in 1964.

Seashore has led the “Going into Business Seminar” for the last six years and extended its presentation base to include five metro library locations and two African American and immigrant centers in the Minneapolis area. He remains active in counseling/mentoring of clients on a weekly basis with emphasis on minority small business entrepreneurs.

Seashore’s volunteer efforts have focused on minority client outreach and partnering to bring business expertise and knowledge to those in the minority communities. These efforts have included establishing minority counseling sites, client training and mentoring. In the early stages of the Minneapolis SCORE’s outreach program, Seashore met with Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Ryback and Don Samuels, city councilmember, to familiarize them with SCORE’s expertise in serving clients in the existing business community and for emerging entrepreneurs. These efforts have supported the city’s efforts to promote and expand jobs.

Two years ago, Seashore was instrumental in finalizing a Memo of Understanding with Kari Plowman, then Executive Director of the Native American Indian Chamber of Commerce. This effort resulted in business counseling being available one day per month in the Native American community. Similar efforts have resulted in business counseling being available one day per month at Urban Ventures in Minneapolis.

Seashore’s outreach efforts are not limited to counseling, holding seminars and meeting with city, library and minority organization leaders. He also participates in SCORE’s speakers bureau with is responsible for explaining SCORE’s capabilities and resource to various organizations.

For example, a couple times per year he speaks about small business opportunities at Roosevelt High School. He is a willing participant at trade shows and exhibits where he distributes literature and explains SCORE’s program of free business counseling and mentoring to potential clients. At these events he is very active in recruiting new SCORE members, particularly new minority and female SCORE volunteers.